The IRS and the Security Summit partners remind you to protect yourself and your clients' sensitive information by putting in place a Written Information Security Plan (WISP).
A WISP helps you identify actions to take in the event of a security incident, data loss or theft. You're the first line of defense in protecting taxpayer information. Regardless of the size of your practice, you should take steps to protect your systems and comply with federal standards.
The IRS sample Written Information Security Plan provides a starting point for businesses. It can be scaled for a company's size, scope of activities, complexity and customer data sensitivity.
For more information, see IRS Publication 5709, How to Create a Written Information Security Plan for Data Safety, and the IRS announcement A Written Information Security Plan protects tax pros and their clients.